


one night, some night

by serendipitiness



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Businessman!Alec, Detective Noir, M/M, Pre-Relationship, detective!magnus, slight sleuthing but mostly kinda flirting, what am I even doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-10-01 18:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20364073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serendipitiness/pseuds/serendipitiness
Summary: It was cold.Bad weather brought a somber hush to Brooklyn, and Alec shivered as he entered his building. He didn’t like how his footsteps sent unsettling whispers up the stairwell, but he needed to pick up some paperwork from work before heading home.Inside his office, someone was waiting.





	one night, some night

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [sh_ficletinstruments](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sh_ficletinstruments) collection. 

> **Prompt:**
> 
> A weary, cynical P.I. gets a new case.

It was cold.

Bad weather brought a somber hush to Brooklyn, and Alec shivered as he entered his building. He didn’t like how his footsteps sent unsettling whispers up the stairwell, but he needed to pick up some paperwork before heading home. Once in his office, he shut the door to cut himself off from the dark hallway, then sighed.

“Mommy got you the corner office, hm?”

Alec spun on his heels and pulled his pistol from his waistband, safety off and finger on the trigger, heart hammering hard.

From a hazy cloud of smoke, a man emerged, and Alec's eyes widened. He was tall, though not as tall as Alec; broad, clad in a dress shirt and trench coat, tie neatly knotted, suspenders swinging oddly from his hips. A cigarette dangled from his fingertips.

Alec swore. His gun trembled in his grip.

“No need for hysterics, pretty boy,” the stranger said, voice smooth as whiskey, and daringly reached out a hand to push the gun until it pointed to the floor. “I’m just a man doing his job.”

“What job?  _ Who are you? _ ”

The man drew closer, smiling, which only accentuated the softness of his mouth. Alec swallowed.

“A man walked into my place tonight. Bald, angry,” the man mentioned casually. “Said, ‘Mr. Bane, the Lightwoods are crooks.’”

Alec’s jaw dropped. “Valentine?”

“Asked me to get dirt on your family. Ruin you.” The man,  _ Bane _ , glanced up, and froze Alec in place with his eyes. “Should I?”

Alec clenched his fist, incensed. “What? No. He's a liar and a cheat who nearly put us in bankruptcy. My family worked hard to get here fair and square, you --”

Bane took a sudden step until he was just inches away and Alec could feel his body heat. He smelled sweetly of tobacco and cologne. Up close without smoke surrounding him, he was even handsomer, and Alec’s cheeks flushed.

“Nothing’s fair in life, Alexander,” Bane said, licking his lips. Alec’s gaze tracked the movement, and when he looked back up he was dismayed to see Bane’s hypnotic eyes watching him. “Perhaps you know that already?”

“I don’t,” Alec said faintly.

“Don’t you?” Breath fanned warm on Alec’s face, and Alec's gaze drifted...

He felt hot under his skin. Impulsively, he tilted forward.

He startled at the feeling of a finger hovering against his lips, close enough to taste. He looked at Bane, who was staring back with soft surprise in his expression.

“Ah -- regrettably, I  _ do _ have rules about not cavorting with targets,” he said slowly. He stepped back. “I suppose I should be off.”

Bane took a bracing puff of his cigarette while Alec stood still, feeling oddly disappointed. He watched as Bane made his way out, halfway gone before he stopped and turned, face half in shadow.

“I think I'll be cancelling my deal with Morgenstern. He was rude and his offer was piss-poor anyway.”

Magnus paused, as if waiting for Alec, then smiled.

“Make of that what you will.”


End file.
